Plot: What’s it about?
Captain Jack Tolliver (Wesley Snipes) is an ex-Delta Force commando, but now he works in a less honorable profession, as a thief. His latest target is an armored car that is supposed to be loaded with cash, enough to allow him and his squad to live the good life, at least for a while. The heist was planned out down to the letter and should have been smooth, but instead things went haywire and now Tolliver faces some unexpected situations. Instead of cold, hard cash, Tolliver has a priceless Van Gogh painting to show from the heist, not to mention one of his men held captive. A group of Russian gangsters were also on to the armored car and when things went bad, they nabbed one of Tolliver’s men as a hostage. Now Tolliver has to rescue his friend and turn this failed heist around, but will he survive long enough to do so?
At least the title of this film is appropriate, as I was entertained by about seven seconds of this movie, but that’s all. The rest of the film’s duration is loud, poorly executed, and a total waste of time. I’ve enjoyed some of Wesley Snipes’ movies, but 7 Seconds is miserable, even by direct to video action movie standards. The action scenes are rushed and fail to spark attention, coming of more like a mess than effective set pieces. Just as little effort was put into the writing, as we have flat characters with no depth and some of the lamest dialogue I have ever heard. I would say the lines sound like the work of eight year olds, but that is an insult to eight year olds, as this is just lousy from start to finish. I tried to find at least one positive element to praise, but 7 Seconds is devoid of even that, so just skip this disaster, trust me on that.
Video: How does it look?
7 Seconds is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. This transfer is rock solid, but rarely does much that makes you sit up and take notice. The image offers above average detail, especially in close ups, but doesn’t have the kind of depth we’ve come to expect from the best high definition transfers. I found colors to be bright and natural, while contrast is a little off at times, which causes some minor issues. So in the end, we have a treatment that is much better than the DVD, but clocks in at average when stacked up against other high definition releases.
Audio: How does it sound?
This Dolby TrueHD 5.1 option performs well, with solid presence and decent power. This track is loud for sure, which is good news in most scenes, but it also leads to some harshness. The harshness is minor, but it is there and can add a little distraction when it pops up. The more subtle scenes also sound fine, but the overall depth and attention to detail isn’t remarkable. So the loud scenes are well done, but that is where almost all the focus of the sound design was placed. Even so, dialogue is clear and isn’t hard to understand. This disc also includes Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Thai language tracks, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Arabic, and Dutch.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes no bonus materials.
